It was to be a big Christmas night on Friday Night SmackDown – five blockbuster singles matches, including a Royal Rumble Qualifier and an Intercontinental Championship bout, all capped off with a massive announcement from World Heavyweight Champion, the Big Show, to finish a big evening on Christmas Day.

To open the show, The Brian Kendrick took on Finlay. The brash youngster found that the third time was the charm, having twice lost previously to the Fighting Irishman in singles competition. This week, however, Kendrick finally lived up to his word that his youth would triumph over Finlay’s experience, hitting Finlay with The Kendrick not once, but twice to secure a pivotal victory for The Brian Kendrick, who was inevitably pleased with his win.

CM Punk was backstage – he was interviewed by Eve Torres. Punk was ultra-confident he could win the Intercontinental Championship – after all, he’d done it before. He lambasted his opponent, John Morrison, as well as the fans in Omaha, about their ‘weakness’, and how none of them were Straight-edge like him, thus making him better than them. The Straight-edge Superstar, smirking, said he would go on to become a two-time Straight-edge Intercontinental Champion with a win later in the evening.

After Michelle McCool defeated Maria last week, Mickie James set out to defeat McCool’s best friend this week, in Layla El. Mickie made quick work of the English Diva, finishing her with the Mickie-DT – afterwards, however, the inevitable happened. The Women’s Champion herself, Michelle McCool, made an appearance, dropping poor Mickie with the Wings of Love to send a stark Christmas message to her Royal Rumble opponent.

The Insane Luchador, Super Crazy, booked his place in the Royal Rumble match with a classy win over Eric Escobar. After a variety of high-flying moves to get the crowd firmly behind him, Crazy finished the match with the Trifecta – three Moonsaults, one from the bottom turnbuckle, one from the middle, and one from the top. After the match, Dolph Ziggler appeared, blindsiding the Insane Luchador with a steel chair. Matt Hardy rushed down the ramp, attempting to stop any assault before it could happen, but Ziggler saw him, and flattened him with a nasty chair shot too. Ziggler then hit both Crazy and Hardy with the chair over and over – Eric Escobar got in the ring, smirking, and offered his hand to Ziggler, but the youngster was in no mood for alliances, cracking the Puerto Rican with the chair for his troubles. As Escobar rolled from the ring, Ziggler continued his assault on Matt Hardy and Super Crazy, only stopping to take a mic from ringside, and roar that he wanted a spot in the Royal Rumble, or else. Teddy Long arrived on the scene, telling Ziggler to calm down – the youngster had a crazed look in his eye – and told him that next week, he’d give him one last chance at getting into the Royal Rumble match, and if he lost, that was it, he would get no more chances. Later in the show, the commentators revealed that Ziggler’s opponent was to be R-Truth.

Chris Jericho, never one to pass up on the opportunity to talk, was more than happy to be interviewed by Eve backstage – he said that he’d beaten Mark Henry on Monday Night Raw, and that in just two days’ time, he’d be defending the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles whether Big Show was at his side or not. He also claimed that no matter what the World’s Largest Athlete declared as the stipulation for the World Title match at Royal Rumble, be it a Tables match, a Ladder match, a Steel Cage match, a Falls Count Anywhere match... no matter what it was, Jericho would be winning the World Heavyweight Championship, because he is the best in the world at what he does. Rey Mysterio interrupted, as with last week, saying that Jericho was far too full of himself, and that would be his downfall... if the Undertaker didn’t cause it first. Jericho, while frightened at first, hardened, and told Mysterio again, that he’d beaten down the Deadman so badly, he’d never return to the WWE. Mysterio said he looked forward to beating some humility into Jericho, come the Rumble.

With Tyson Kidd and Natalya in his corner, David Hart Smith defeated Shad, who was accompanied by JTG and Eve Torres. The match, taking place after the break, was filled with powerful moves from both big men, but the end came from a submission, when Smith locked in a dastardly Crossface manoeuvre, which JR and Todd Grisham told us was named the Hart Bypass. Shad didn’t last long, as Smith applied the hold expertly, using all his strength to put Shad in no position to continue, leading to the eventual tap-out. Between Tyson Kidd’s Prince’s Crown, and Smith’s Hart Bypass, the Hart Dynasty are firmly showing the world that the Sharpshooter is not the only deadly submission move in their arsenal. Though submissions don’t count in the Royal Rumble, you can be sure they will a great asset to have if needed in that 30-Man match.

Theodore Long announced another Royal Rumble Qualifier for next week – it was to be the unlikely tandem of Drew McIntyre and Mike Knox against Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang. Whichever team loses, will get no further shots at making it to the Rumble, claimed Long.

In the Christmas Day Main Event, John Morrison and CM Punk fought for 14 minutes in a highly athletic match – Punk had kicked out of a Moonlight Drive, and Morrison had found the ropes whilst enduring an Anaconda Vise. The end finally came as Punk lined up the GTS – Morrison broke free, pulling Punk down with a Hurricanrana. He then charged for the corner, and stunned the Straight-edge Superstar with the Starship Pain before he could react, before hooking the leg, getting the three, and retaining his Intercontinental Championship.

After the break, World Heavyweight Champion Big Show arrived in the ring. He said that in two days’ time, he would be in Denver, Colorado, to defend his Unified Tag Team Titles alongside Chris Jericho, but he didn’t plan on exactly trying hard to help Jericho retain, and that it was a possibility his hand might slip, and knock Jericho out. He went on to say that the titles meant nothing to him anymore, and he’d rather lose them than have to team with Jericho anymore. He said at Armageddon, he’d have the same mindset as the other teams – to flatten Jericho. Moving on to a different subject, Show decided it was time to announce the type of match it would be at Royal Rumble, in that Fatal Four-Way match for the World Title. Seeing as the event was going to be in New York, Show felt like getting some fresh air... As the fans slowly cottoned on to what the big man was saying, a roar built up, and the crowd was cheering wildly as the World’s Largest Athlete announced that, at Royal Rumble, the four men wouldn’t be fighting in the Madison Square Garden ring... they’d be fighting in New York City! Big Show called it an NYC Brawl – four men, battling in the streets of New York. No disqualifications, no countouts, just fighting in the streets, using whatever they find to try and win the World Heavyweight Championship! Show said that absolutely anything is legal on January 31st, and that his opponents would be treated to a big, big show in NYC. SmackDown ended with Show raising his World Title in the air, and shots of each of his opponents backstage, watching, and looking shocked by the announcement.